The Van Gogh Gallery Blog

We are proud to announce the launch of the new C Monet Gallery website, today.  The C Monet Gallery worked with our sponsors, The Net Impact, for the web design and search engine optimization of the new website.  Just as the Van Gogh Gallery covers all aspects of Vincent van Gogh’s life and works, the C Monet Gallery offers a wealth of information on the life and work of Claude Monet.  Learn about how Monet started the Impressionist movement with Impression, Sunrise or how he captured his Water Lilies en plein air from his garden in Giverny.  Often revered for his landscapes, many of Monet’s contemporaries were impressed by his works including Van Gogh.  In a letter to his brother Theo from 1889, Van Gogh stated, “Ah, to paint figures as Claude Monet paints landscapes!”  See what Van Gogh and everyone else is talking about and view the C Monet Gallery now! 

Van Gogh Letter Source: WebExhibits.org

Still life was just one of the many types of art that Van Gogh mastered.  Van Gogh’s early still life paintings are more realistic in style and capture the aspects of peasant life in the Borinage, Belgium.  During his later years, living in the South of France, he became more expressive with color and more imaginative depicting subjects. A recent post from Eyeconart’s blog discusses several different masters’ takes on still life including Van Gogh and how even in painting still objects each artist’s style and personality shows through.  Scroll through our gallery to see more of Van Gogh’s progression as an artist through still life.

On behalf of the Van Gogh Gallery, I would like to extend a big thank you to two of our sponsors: Unidev and The Net Impact. With the support of the IT Consultants at Unidev and the Web Marketing and Web Design teams at The Net Impact, we have been able to add additional features and information to continually enhance the Van Gogh Gallery site. To everyone who has helped make this website the number one resource on the Internet devoted to the life and work of Vincent van Gogh, Thank you!

With the holidays quickly approaching I would like to turn your attention to one of our sponsors, Restaurant Foods at Home. Without the support of sponsors like Restaurant Foods at Home, we would not be able to bring the enhanced information and upgrades to the Van Gogh Gallery site. So, for your holiday gifts consider some of the delicious gourmet cheese gift boxes that Restaurant Foods has to offer. Being that Van Gogh was from Holland, one of the top cheese producing countries in the world, and that he often dined on bread and cheese alone, cheese gifts are the perfect accompaniment to a Van Gogh masterpiece for anyone on your holiday gift list.

With interest growing in the Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night exhibit, posted on earlier, I wanted to bring you more on this event especially if you won’t have the opportunity to see it in person.  Earlier this week I was contacted by ArtInfo.com about a recent podcast they released called Van Gogh: Painting the Night.  The podcast features expert commentary on the night themes in Van Gogh’s work from leading Van Gogh authorities including the curators of the Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night exhibit.  In addition, excerpts read from Van Gogh’s letters allow Vincent to speak to his use of these motifs as well.  Listen to the experts’ analysis along with insight from Van Gogh himself, in Van Gogh: Painting the Night now! 

I would like to extend a big “Thank you!” to all of the visitors to the Van Gogh Gallery who have helped to make it the #1 Van Gogh site on the Internet.  I would especially like to thank Richard from The Netherlands, Sandra from Brazil and Lyn from The United States for your feedback.  Thank you for your attention to detail and helping us make this the best Van Gogh resource on the web!  It is our goal to provide the most accurate and complete online information on Vincent van Gogh’s life and Van Gogh’s works so we appreciate feedback on the site.  usa casino online

Thank you to all of our loyal visitors for visiting our webiste and responding with your questions and comments.  If you have feedback on our website to share, please contact the Van Gogh Gallery.

In collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Museum of Modern Art in New York has a special exhibition on display called Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night.   The limited engagement exhibit opened yesterday and will run until January 5, 2009.  Including some of his most famous works, both indoor scenes and outdoor landscapes, the exhibit features paintings, drawing and letters which capture the light and the vision with which Van Gogh saw the world at night.  For more information on this exhibition or lectures and other events related to this exhibit, visit MOMA.  Not going to be in the New York area to see this exhibit in person?  View the online Van Gogh exhibit.

A hidden portrait of a woman painted by Van Gogh was found underneath Van Gogh’s Patch of Grass.  The painting Patch of Grass from the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, The Netherlands was examined through the use of a new type of x-ray technology by a team of researchers from Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands and the University of Antwerp in Belgium.  Van Gogh, like many artists, often reused his canvases, so the potential for using this technology to uncover more works of art is great.  To see the painting and read more about this new discovery or the technology that made it possible click here.

One of our visitors recently told me about the world’s first Van Gogh musical which just opened this summer. Produced by COA Productions, Van Gogh and the Sunflower Boy is a musical adaptation of Camille and the Sunflowers by Laurence Anholt. This production focuses on Van Gogh’s time spent in Arles and many of the people he met during that time. Van Gogh and the Sunflower Boy is currently being performed for the next couple of months in Seoul, Korea before touring China and Japan.  Read more from Laurence Anholt himself on this production or if you read Korean more information can also be found here.

In the midst of the sweltering summer it is nice to take a break from the heat and take in some culture at a local museum.  Should you find yourself in Amsterdam this summer, art and culture abounds and Van Gogh can’t be missed.  The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has the world’s largest collection of Van Gogh’s works.  For a first hand look at one patron’s experience at the Van Gogh museum check out this enlightening post from Bells on a Starry Night.  The Rijksmuseum also has some of Van Gogh’s work as well as works from many other famous artists and eras, or if you are venturing out of Amsterdam consider visiting the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo which houses over two hundred and fifty of Van Gogh’s works.  Prefer to view the masterpieces a little closer to home?  Go to the Van Gogh Gallery catalog and filter by city, state, country or museum name to find the Van Goghs closest to you.  Is there an interesting Van Gogh work or tour in your local area?  Leave a comment and let me know!